https://youtu.be/NCNOmlNtF_Q             

Link to a video demonstration on Youtube

https://www.freelancewriting.com/creative-writing/questions-for-creating-character-development/

https://www.novel-software.com/theultimatecharacterquestionnaire

Above are some questions listed for me to ask about the four characters Wukong, Xuanzhang, Bajie, and Wujing so help better understand them and write better information for the audience to read and understand.

I also need to fix the transition slide and also fix the bugs that I have in my code.

and lastly, I need to incorporate more interactivity in the code for users to play around with.

I got some issues with the clicking function, they are all mouse presses and and because they are all mouse pressed they show up on all of the environments so the players can accidently get switched to another environment while still enjoying and playing with their previous one.

I think I one way to resolve the issue is to take out the home page and write the code in order from the environment so that once one character interactivity is completed I can write an if statement telling the program to rewrite over the previous one so that none of the past functions would effect the next environment.

I also discovered I came across some issues with the movements suffering with some lags but works fine if I put it in a new file with no other code. I think I might have some bugs but I just don’t know where it is coming from, I have a meeting with Bonnie in the morning so I am hoping she could take a look at it.

I think the biggest problem for me right now is coding and me taking a long time to grasp an understand certain parts of the language. I am not entirely concern with some of the unfinished paintings because they are all pretty minor at this point and I can easily fix and change those but with coding it is very unpredictable.  But I am remaining optimistic, I will have it completed there will just not have as much interactively as I would have hoped but I can always add in more things later. That is one of the good things about coding, once you solve one issue and made one thing work, I can base it off the previous code and add more things into it.

So, for the class critique I showed everyone my Processing file and what I have thus far but after Mondays class I worked on it some more and decided that it will be easier for me to have clicking transitions instead of sliding transitions.

So I changed it so now they are clicking transitions. I also moved onto coding the interactivtly of the code. Because I spend so much time painting and drawing the scenes and characters I don’t have much time with coding so I am shortening my plan a little.

Instead of having multiple game interactions there will only be one per character and location. the rest will be roll overs and mouse presses of the environment to find interesting facts about each character. I still want the informative aspect of the project to remain because that was my original intention but I wanted to add interaction for it to be more engaging.

The ending will still be the same with all of the characters together on their to India to achieve enlightenment.

I made some changes to Wukongs’s environment so that it fits better and so that Wukong would belong into the frame because it was too blue and Wukong’s cloths was also blue.

I have already started to code for the last part of the BFA project.

I redesigned Bajie’s environment  because his original was too far away so if I were to put him in it, he would be very tiny.

I also redesigned Wukong’s environment cause his was too confusing and there was also no room for him to stand.

I started on adding textures and colors to their environment and I am making decent progress. I am aiming to have this all done by the end of this week and ready for monday so I can start putting them all into Processing. I was also given permission by Bonnie to work on my BFA as a final for her Art and Code class so that is what I will be working on for the following week until Finals.

This is Zhu Bajie’s environment.

This is Wukong’s new environment.

I plan on adding more foliage and trees into the environment

I made some revisions on the characters after having a meeting with Bonnie. I’ve officially finished the characters textures and all. Now I am working on finishing the environment as well as planning out an interface and flow cart for my interactive project.

       Sha Wujing

     Sun Wukung

       Xuanzhang

  Zhu Bajie

I goal is to finish the environment by Wednesday and have a solid flow chart to follow so I can begin coding for the rest of November and December.

Above is what I have made thus far and the image below has the sketch layer on top to show what else I need to add into the image.

This is the basic color palette I felt it will go well with Bajie but this could change once I added in the detail.

The image below is what Wujing’s location looks like, I am pretty happy with the color palette of this location as well, but this could change once I add in the textures.

I finished Wujing’s character I just have to go in and add the textures, his character is bigger than the other characters because he is often describe as being taller in stature. In my previous post I assigned him the colors blue and browns for his characterists but I have yet found ways to incorporate more browns into his palette. His color scheme may or may not change once I go in and add his textures.

I’ve also finished the sketches for his environment and found information on his location.

Like many of the main characters in the novel they were all punished for the crimes they have committed and Wujing’s punishment was to be isolated in a dessert like place where his swords and daggers will randomly be send from the heavens to stab him at randoms. Despite his crimes and him being damned to become a demon in the novel his is often noted to be very kind hearted and the most obedient out of the three companions to Xuanzhang.

This is the rough outline that I will follow but his location will mostly be sand and rocks and in the background there will be mountains off in the distance.

I plan on having all of the environment done and I will work on the textures of the environment in class and over the rest of this week. My goal is to have all of this done by the end of Sunday so I can begin animating everything that needs to be animated and start assembling everything by the end of November or sooner depending on how smoothly the animating part will go since I might have to go back and make revision for the joints of the characters if they cannot be animated smoothly in After Effects.

I never got to finishing up Wukong’s environment but I about done with Bajie I just need to add textures on and he is ready to be animated.

My goal is to have his environment sketched out and Wukongs environment done by wednesday. I’ll be back to work on more later today since I am hoping to have all of the characters ready to show.

On the left is a screen shot that I took from an old animation about Wukong, and on the right is my basic vector drawing of his environment. I am trying to have the same whimsical appeal as what was in the animation but that is all I have gotten done with today’s class time. I had to move some of the pieces around because it didn’t fit with the composition so it looks a little different from my initial sketch drawing. I hope to add textures in my monday and also get a start on Zhubajie on Monday.

What I have done thus far, Wukong (monkey king; the monkey) is completely done while the Monk is almost done. I am still working on his robe and from the group critique there are things that needs to be done to that the monk character and the monkey match in style and texture.

The issue of time and time management is also an issue since I am behind on schedule but I also eliminated a lot of work from my calendar because I don’t have to write a script for each character and their origin story and research are mostly finished. I just need to focus on completing the characters and the environment.

Somethings that are positive is the fact the environment and characters are suitable for the interactive web storybook that I am trying to create.

As for the technical and computer science part, the class that I am taking Art and Code is moving along and I am on the section where I am learning about interactivity so by the end of that segment I should also have the characters and environment completed for me to start playing around with the program.

So, I can’t figure out how to add textures in illustrator so instead I will be using Photoshop instead to make the images for the characters and environments.

Here are some screen shots of the environments from an old animation about Sun Wukong, I am taking inspiration from the images and how they illustrate the environments. I believe they used water color to achieve their dream like environment but I will be using digital mediums instead to illustrate my environment.

Found a tutorial on how to achieve a simple but effective look in photoshop

This is probably the closest to how I want my characters and environment to look like

Xuanzhang was an actual historical figure.

The link above retells his story and his significance in Chinese history by bringing buddhism to China. The author of Journey to the West, Wu Cheng En named his character the Monk after Xuanzhang, much of the premise of the story to Journey to the West is based on Xuanzhang’s adventure traveling to India. The only difference is that the actual Xuanzhang traveled alone was a fugitive from the Chinese Emperor because he left China without his permission (there was a travel ban in China at the time), while in the book by Wu Cheng En Xuanzhang was granted permission and Wukong was sent to protect him from harm that would come his way during his travels.

Also found another much more detailed report history of Xuanzhang by a professor from Peking University China

Because the real Xuanzhang brought buddhism to China for his item I will make a large golden Buddha head lodge between clouds in the Heavens for his symbol.

If I have time I want to make the roofs jingle and move a bit like a xylophone.

The fences will shift left to right like the clouds if the mouse scrolls over them.

This what I sort of have in mind when you open the page, but there will be more details and many of the environment will be done in illustrator. The very top of the page is the Jade heavenly palace and as your scroll down you’ll see the mortal whelm with mountains and the roof tops of the houses. In between the heavens and the mortal whelm there will be a lot of clouds.

In order to allow the audience to see the world where “Journey to the West” takes palace, I’m doing research on the jade empire.

The Jade Emperor and who resides with him in the Heavenly Palace

I want clouds to move and float to cover the palace and the landscape but once the user moves their mouse the cloud will float away.

They will look something like the three pictures.

I plan taking inspiration from the forbidden city in Beijing, China to create what the Jade Palace would look like.